A Dragon at Heart
by Hearken
Summary: Astrid ponders the strange bond that Hiccup and Toothless share, and that despite everything, she can't compete with the black bundle of scales.


A Dragon at Heart

I lounged leisurely on the steps of the great hall as I reflected on what had happened over the past few months.

Dragons and Vikings were at peace, Hiccup was hailed as a hero, and most importantly, I found myself infatuated with the small Viking.

Despite his sarcastic personality and his un-viking like demeanor, I, Astrid Hofferson, the most Vikingist of all Vikings, or at least the most Vikingist out of my friends, wanted to be with him.

Seems odd right? Well odd is Hiccups middle name.

Actually its Horrendous, but I'm getting off topic.

Hiccup had always been different. When all the other kids would be roughhousing, and pretending to be great Viking heroes, Hiccup would be off drawing flowers and other things he deemed "neat" or "cool". When the other kids were training to become great Viking heroes, Hiccup would be off hunting for trolls.

Yes Hiccup was different, and for nearly all of his life he had been ridiculed for it. But this was now, and now his differences ended up saving Berk.

I had always known that Hiccup had a little crush on me, and I had never acknowledged him because of his very un-viking like personality. He had never approached me about his supposed feelings, most likely out of fear of rejection, not that I blame him. At the time I likely would have rejected him without a second thought

...But now

Now I believe I would most definitely accept, and be his "girlfriend" per say.

I had expected him to approach me after I had kissed him when he awoke from his battle with the Red Death, but as time went on I grew suspicious about why he had not approached me. I had openly displayed my affection for him, and yet he had not once returned it.

I had planned to seek him out at his workplace in the forge and confront him about this, but thats when I finally understood why he had been ignoring me.

I had sat outside the forge for a awhile, and when he finally emerged he brushed right passed me.

And went straight to his dragon.

I shook myself out of my thoughtful trance and glanced upwards to see Hiccup and Toothless drift through the sky towards towards their home on the hill. I can't help but feel that I deserved this.

I didn't notice it at first, but as time went on it became obvious to me that I would never be the focus of Hiccup's affections. No, that damned dragon would always come first. It doesn't matter what we would be doing, whenever that dragon made its presence known, Hiccup would drop everything and give the devil is hourly dose of attention.

Looking back on things, I can understand Hiccup's attraction to the beast. Vikings had never been kind to poor Hiccup, and when that dragon embraced him as his first friend, Hiccup had chosen what side he was on.

Not that I don't understand where he's coming from, I mean, I love Stormfly. I don't know what I'd do without her. But I don't think we will ever be as close as Hiccup and Toothless are.

The two of them seem inseparable.

They even each other out. Hiccup helps Toothless fly, and Toothless makes sure Hiccup never falls because of his prosthetic.

Some Vikings even cracked jokes about how Hiccup and Toothless were... you know "together". That train of thought always made me cringe.

Despite what many of my comrades may think, my attraction to Hiccup wasn't because of his sudden rise to fame with the Vikings, although that did help smooth the transition.

It was the fact that he had shown me a world completely different than the one I knew. In case you didn't know, we Vikings are very stubborn, and we do not like change. But Hiccup like the ...uh Non-Viking that he was did the exact opposite of what Vikings had done for centuries, and in the end, he had completely changed life on Berk .

That was what attracted me to the sarcastic fishbone, his ability to see past the barriers that Vikings put around themselves to justify what we do.

I can't help but feel jealous whenever I see that look of adoration on Hiccups face thats not directed at me, but rather at that Night Fury. I used to think that as time passed, his bond with the beast would dull somewhat, and he would direct his attentions elsewhere.

Towards me to be precise.

But everytime I see him, the sight of his pure and unadulterated joy when hes around the ebony dragon dampens my hopes everytime.

Maybe I shouldn't be so surprised. Despite what Hiccup may say, I don't believe he's forgiven us completely for the years of mocking, and ridiculing him. Though I rarely participated, I still watched while it happened, and maybe not doing anything about it, is actually worse than being the one throwing the insults at him.

Hiccup is still human, and he could still hold some resentment towards the entire village for their treatment of him.

Well except for his father. It seems not matter what Stoick does Hiccup will forgive him for it, unless of course it impedes his relationship with Toothless.

I shook my head to rid myself of those thoughts. I had been thinking about this to long and it was starting to give me a headache.

I looked around to find that night had fallen .

I glanced up slightly and saw Hiccup walking through the doorway of his home, his hand resting upon Toothless's back. As he climbed the steps. The door shut behind him, but my eyes remained locked on, where Hiccup and his devil had been.

I frowned.

Sighing, I stood up and began to make my way towards my home.

Maybe it just wasn't meant to be.

Maybe Hiccup wasn't meant to interact with humans the way normal people do. Now that I thought about it, Hiccup seemed to get along with the dragons better than he did with many of the Vikings. Although Vikings aren't always the most agreeable people.

I had asked him once if he was willing to risk the safety of his entire tribe just to save his pet dragon.

His answer was simple.

"Yes."

That was all he said.

I sighed for what seemed like the thousandth time tonight.

Maybe Hiccup and I weren't meant to be. I guess Hiccup was meant to live in some cave and speak with roars and whines, rather than words. Maybe HIccup truly believes he is a dragon at heart.

I smiled slightly at that.

Who am I to come between Hiccup's friendship with Toothless.

I can be content with being his friend to, and yes I can even live with being second fiddle to that large kitten with scales.

I nodded to myself and smiled again. Yes life on Berk was going to be just fine

"Astriiiid, what are you doing out so late, don't worry I'll walk you home." came the haughty voice of Snotlout from behind me.

I sighed as my headache suddenly returned.

The End

Well, What do you think?


End file.
